Did Donald Trump and Ben Carson Make a Deal?
A watchdog group affiliated with Hillary Clinton supporters have filed a complaint with the Justice Department, Politico reports, accusing Donald Trump of engaging in an illegal quid quo pro with Ben Carson.
“It has recently come to light that Mr. Donald Trump may have willfully offered Dr. Ben Carson an appointment to his administration should he become president in return for supporting his candidacy in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 599,” Brad Woodhouse, the head of the American Democracy Legal Fund, wrote in a letter addressed to the Department of Justice.
ADLF was founded by notorious political operative and Clinton ally David Brock, who also this week filed three separate ethics complaints against Bernie Sanders with the Federal Election Commission. The complaint against Trump focuses on remarks Carson made in a March 14 interview with Newsmax, just three days after he endorsed the Republican frontrunner. Politico reports:
Carson was vague when asked about what he and Trump had discussed the day before the endorsement. In the interview with Newsmax’s Steve Malzberg, Carson said Trump would “surround himself with very good people.”
“I’m not going to reveal any details about it right now, because all of this is still very liquid,” Carson said.
He has explicitly since denied any quid pro quo, telling Yahoo News’ Bianna Golodryga on March 16 that any suggestion otherwise is “ridiculous.”
“That would be ridiculous. I would never ask for such a thing. And people take liberties and then you believe what they say. That’s just not true,” Carson said in that interview.
“Dr. Carson’s comments strongly suggest that Mr. Trump promised him an administration position in return for his endorsement,” the watchdog group’s letter states. “ADLF respectfully requests that you investigate this matter and take all appropriate action as soon as possible.”
This would lend credence to earlier speculation that Carson didn’t actually want to endorse Trump at all.